Celebration

We celebrate many events through the year. Some are personal, some are cultural or religious, and some are national. Quite a few, I suspect, have their origins in the celebration of the natural world, and involve spiritual connections that we’ve mostly forgotten.

Driving through the countryside two days ago, I realized how happy I felt seeing the golden cornfields being harvested, the green soybeans turning yellow and rust on top, the warm sun shining in a deep blue sky with a cool breeze filled with the scent of crispness. Everything looked, smelled, and sounded as if the season, and the year, had reached its fullness of life.

As I helped Jim bag the Native American multi-colored corn called Smoke Signals, I celebrated how good it felt to be alive in a world of such variety and beauty. The crop wasn’t as large as anticipated because more deer survived last year’s mild winter, but I rejoiced in getting my hands dirty and for the harvest being brought in.

Heirloom Corn

Last week I was at the farm shucking Mandan Bride corn. Commonly known as Indian corn, it’s one of the organic crops that Jim and Peggy are growing.

We talked as we worked, of course, about life, writing, sailing the Maine coast, and about relationships. We sat in the warm sun shucking and sorting corn, feeling connected to the earth, and to the Native Americans who once sat together like this and shucked corn in the fall. Food, fellowship, and work. A moment of eternity on a September afternoon.

Sitting on Porches

I like the image of my grandparents sitting on the porch after dinner, talking with friends about past events and people they knew, watching clouds slide over and shadows settle on Wisconsin as the colors of the sun set, and feeling connected to nature. Most of them grew up in farming families and were used to working with nature in all kinds of weather. Grandpa still maintained a large garden, as well as hunted and fished. Being outdoors was as natural and comfortable to him as sitting in his living room.